chapter 33

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The house felt colder tonight. Each corner, each room seemed to echo with the tension between us, but it was nothing compared to the storm inside me. How did we end up here.him in control of everything, and me, barely clinging to the remnants of my strength?

Rudransh was in the other room. I could hear him, pacing again, as if his restless footsteps could somehow fix the mess he’d made. But the more he tried, the tighter the walls of this house closed in on me. He didn’t understand; he couldn’t. He thought his regret would heal things. He thought his apologies were enough. But words were empty, just like his promises.

I walked over to the window and leaned my forehead against the cool glass, staring out at the dark night. The stars twinkled faintly above, but they felt so far away, as if they were in a different world entirely. A world where love didn’t come wrapped in chains.

I ran my hand over my belly. My baby. My baby, I reminded myself, a silent promise. This child was the only thing anchoring me to this life, the only pure thing in all this chaos.

I closed my eyes, willing the tears to stay back. I was so tired of crying, of feeling broken. I had spent months in this gilded cage, pretending like I was holding on, like I still had control. But I knew the truth. I was trapped. Not just physically.though that was certainly part of it but emotionally, mentally. Rudransh had trapped me in a web of his making, and I couldn’t see a way out.

I heard the door creak behind me, and I tensed immediately. I didn’t have to look to know it was him. I could feel his presence, the weight of him filling the room.

“Mihitha,” he called my name softly, like he always did now, as if whispering would somehow make me more receptive to him. I didn’t move. I couldn’t face him not right now. Not when everything inside me felt like it was on the verge of shattering again.

“Mihitha, please…” His voice was closer now, behind me. I could feel the warmth of him standing just a few feet away. Too close. He was always too close, like his very presence was a chain, binding me to him.

I didn’t respond. Silence was all I could give him. Words had lost their meaning between us long ago.

He took a deep breath, and I could hear the frustration in his voice when he spoke again. “You can’t keep ignoring me. We have to talk.”

Talk. That’s all we ever did now talk. But talking didn’t change anything. His words couldn’t undo the damage, couldn’t fix the broken pieces of my heart. I had given him everything once my trust, my love, my vulnerability. And he had taken it, twisted it, and thrown it back in my face.

“What’s left to say?” I asked, my voice cold and distant. “You’ve said enough, Rudransh.”

There was a pause, and then I felt him move closer. “I know I hurt you. I know I was wrong, but I…”

“You broke me,” I whispered, cutting him off, my voice trembling despite myself. “You broke everything.”

There was silence, and for a moment, I thought he might leave. Part of me hoped he would, that he’d finally understand I didn’t have anything left to give him. But Rudransh was never one to give up easily. He was stubborn. Persistent. He always fought for what he wanted, and unfortunately for me, what he wanted was to keep me by his side.

I heard him take another step closer, and then his hand was on my shoulder, gentle, tentative. I flinched at his touch, and he pulled his hand back as if I had burned him.

“I didn’t mean to hurt you,” he said, his voice soft but insistent. “I never wanted to break you, Mihitha.”

I turned then, finally looking at him, my eyes locking onto his. There was so much regret in his expression, so much sorrow. But it didn’t matter. His guilt couldn’t erase the past.

“You think that changes anything?” I asked, my voice shaking with the weight of my emotions. “You think just because you regret it now, it makes it better?”

“No,” he whispered, his voice thick. “No, it doesn’t make it better. But I want to fix this. I want to make things right between us.”

I laughed bitterly, a sharp sound that echoed in the quiet room. Right. There was no making this right. There was no going back.

“You can’t fix this, Rudransh,” I said, my eyes stinging with the tears I refused to let fall. “You can’t fix what you’ve done. You took everything from me.”

He looked down, his hands clenching into fists at his sides. I could see the struggle in him the fight to keep calm, to stay in control of his emotions. But it didn’t matter. He couldn’t control me anymore.

“I know,” he said after a long pause. “I know I can’t change what I did. But I can change now. I can be better.”

I shook my head, stepping back from him. “Better?” I repeated, my voice cracking. “Better for who? You think being sorry is enough? You think being ‘better’ will make me forget everything?”

He looked up at me then, his eyes desperate. “No, Mihitha, I don’t want you to forget. I just… I want to move forward. For us. For the baby.”

The baby. He always brought it back to the baby, as if that would change things between us. As if the life growing inside me could erase the pain he’d caused.

“I told you,” I said, my voice hard. “This baby is mine. Not yours. You don’t get to claim it just because you regret what you did.”

He flinched at my words, but I didn’t care. He needed to hear the truth.

“I’m still here because I don’t have a choice,” I continued, my voice low and fierce. “But don’t think for one second that I’ll ever forgive you. And don’t think for one second that I’ll let you near this baby.”

His face twisted in pain, and for a moment, I saw the raw emotion flicker across his expression. He looked at me like a man drowning, desperate for something to cling to. But I wasn’t his lifeline. Not anymore.

“Mihitha, please…” he whispered, his voice thick with emotion. “Please, don’t shut me out like this. I want to be there for you. For the baby.”

“No,” I said, my voice sharp and final. “You don’t get to be part of this. Not after everything.”

His shoulders sagged, and for the first time in a long time, I saw defeat in his eyes. He was used to winning, used to getting what he wanted. But this time, he wasn’t going to win.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, his voice barely audible. “I’m so sorry.”

The words hung in the air between us, heavy with all the things we couldn’t say. I wanted to believe him. I wanted to believe that he had changed, that his regret was real, that he truly wanted to make things right. But I couldn’t.

Because the truth was, I wasn’t the same woman I used to be. He had changed me, broken me, and no amount of apologies could fix that.

“I’m done, Rudransh,” I said, my voice quiet but firm. “You can be sorry all you want, but it doesn’t change anything. I can’t forgive you. And I can’t let you back into my heart.”

He stared at me for a long moment, his face pale, his eyes filled with pain. But finally, he nodded, stepping back.

“I’ll give you space,” he said, his voice hoarse. “But I’m not giving up. I won’t give up on us.”

He turned and walked out of the room, leaving me alone with the silence once again. I stood there for a long time, staring at the door he had just closed behind him, my heart heavy with emotions I didn’t know how to process.

I had won this battle, but the war inside me raged on.



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